ARM, Sprint team to drive IoT innovation

LONDON – Processor IP licensor ARM and U.S. wireless network services provider Sprint are working together to encourage the development of products to address the Internet of Things.

ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has introduced a development kit that integrates the Sprint mobile broadband USB 598U modem from Sierra Wireless with the mbed development platform, which is based on a Cortex-M3 microcontroller. The USB 598U modem provides access the Sprint 3G CDMA EVDO Rev. A network and the kit comes with drivers for modem pre-installed.

ARM and Sprint Nextel Corp. (Overland Park, Kansas) are also staging an event about the rapid prototyping of cellular-connected processors at the Sprint Development Center in Burlingame, California on Dec. 6, 2012.

The Internet of Things could comprise 50 billion connected devices by 2020, according to market research firm Gartner Inc. The majority of these devices will include sensors or provide access to sensor networks and are likely to be deployed across a wide range of vertical markets including home automation, automobiles, transportation, healthcare, utility distribution, retail and energy.

The rapid prototyping developer kit from Sprint and ARM overcomes provides a C++ development environment for a 32-bit microcontroller and is intended to ease modem integration. Open source drivers for the USB 598U modem will be pre-integrated allowing developers to focus on application specifics.

"By enabling rapid prototyping for the Internet of Things, ARM and Sprint are able to support the genesis of this ecosystem with easy, affordable access to the latest low-power technology and high bandwidth connectivity," said Vincent Korstanje, vice president, segment marketing at ARM, in a statement.

For geographic markets covered by Vodafone networks the mbed community recently announced the release of the Vodafone USB modem mbed library, enabling mbed microcontroller boards to connect to a cellular communications network using a 3G USB modem from supplied by Vodafone.